Study Area

I collect data at Fort Campbell, KY. Fort Campbell is in KY, but it also part of it is also TN. Fort Campbell is a military installation where there is approximately 105,000 acres of land with varying environments that include forests consisting of primarily deciduous trees, grasslands, wetlands, and agricultural fields. There are approximately 453 miles of streams scattered throughout the base.

Let’s look at a map of Kentucky and Tennessee to get an idea of my study area!

#Create map
ggplot() +
  #states surrounding
  geom_polygon(
  data = state %>% filter(region %in% border_states),
  aes(x = long, y = lat, group = group),
  fill = "snow2", color = "black") +
  #ky + tn with ALL counties
  geom_polygon(data = ky_tn,
  aes(x = long, y = lat, group = group),
  fill = "azure", color = "black") +
  #highlight the counties i use
  geom_polygon(data = counties,
               aes(x = long, y = lat, group = group),
               fill = "darkgrey", color = "black") +
  #put fort campbell (palmyra rd as a point)
  geom_point(data = fort_campbell,
              aes(x = x, y = y),
              color = "red",
              size = 2,
              stroke = 1) +
  coord_fixed(xlim = c(-90, -82), ylim = c(33.5, 39)) +
  scale_x_continuous(breaks = seq(-91, -83, by = 1)) +
  scale_y_continuous(breaks = seq(34, 39, by = 1)) +
    xlab("Longitude") + ylab("Latitude") + ggtitle("Fort Campbell Study Area") +
  theme_classic() +
    theme(
    panel.grid = element_blank()
    ) +
annotation_scale(
  location = "tl",
  width_hint = 0.3,
  style = "ticks",
  text_cex = 0.8
) +
annotation_north_arrow(
  location = "bl",
  which_north = "true",
  style = north_arrow_nautical(),
  height = unit(0.8, "cm"),
  width = unit(0.8, "cm")
)
## Using plotunit = 'm'
## Warning in draw_panel(...): True north is not meaningful without coord_sf()

Now, let’s view the sites where I caught red bats! Yippe!!!

sites <- read.csv("netting_sites_2025.csv")

#make a interactive map

sites$Color <- c("hotpink", "darkblue", "purple", "green", "yellow", "brown", "orange", "black") 

leaflet(data = sites) %>%
   addProviderTiles(providers$OpenStreetMap, group = "Satellite") %>%
   addProviderTiles(providers$Esri.WorldImagery, group = "Road Map") %>%
   addProviderTiles(providers$Esri.WorldTopoMap, group = "Terrain") %>%
  addCircleMarkers(
    lng = ~ Longitude,
    lat = ~Latitude,
    color = ~Color,
    fillColor =~Color,
    fillOpacity =~ 0.8,
    popup = ~paste("Latitude:", Latitude, "<br>Longitude:", Longitude)
)%>%
    fitBounds(~min(Longitude), ~min(Latitude), ~max(Longitude), ~max(Latitude)) %>%
    addLayersControl(
    baseGroups = c("Road Map", "Satellite", "Terrain"),
    options = layersControlOptions(collapsed = FALSE)
)%>%
    addScaleBar(position = "bottomleft") %>%
    addLayersControl(
    baseGroups = c("Road Map", "Satellite", "Terrain"),
    options = layersControlOptions(collapsed = FALSE)
)

The red outline indicates the entirety of Fort Campbell. The sites are differentiated by color.

library(knitr)
kable(sites[, c("Sites", "Latitude", "Longitude", "Color")],
      col.names = c("Site", "Latitude", "Longitude", "Color"),
)
Site Latitude Longitude Color
23 36.61840 -87.61080 hotpink
109 36.58150 -87.63680 darkblue
324 36.56588 -87.51125 purple
113 36.60190 -87.56640 green
4 36.57450 -87.51200 yellow
6 36.65740 -87.77370 brown
116 36.62240 -87.77920 orange
2 36.66480 -87.78880 black 
sites <- read.csv("netting_sites_2025.csv")

#make images for markers
sites_markers <- 
  c("red_01.PNG",
    "red_02.PNG",
    "red_03.PNG",
    "red_04.PNG",
    "red_05.PNG",
    "red_06.PNG",
    "red_07.PNG",
    "red_08.PNG"
    )

site_icon <- makeIcon(sites_markers, iconWidth = 35, iconHeight = 35)
#make a interactive map

sites$Color <- c("hotpink", "darkblue", "purple", "green", "yellow", "brown", "orange", "black") 

leaflet(data = sites) %>%
   addProviderTiles(providers$OpenStreetMap, group = "Satellite") %>%
   addProviderTiles(providers$Esri.WorldImagery, group = "Road Map") %>%
   addProviderTiles(providers$Esri.WorldTopoMap, group = "Terrain") %>%
  addMarkers(
    lng = ~ Longitude,
    lat = ~Latitude,
    icon = site_icon,
    popup = ~paste("Latitude:", Latitude, "<br>Longitude:", Longitude)
) %>%
    fitBounds(~min(Longitude), ~min(Latitude), ~max(Longitude), ~max(Latitude)) %>%
    addLayersControl(
    baseGroups = c("Satellite"),
    options = layersControlOptions(collapsed = FALSE)
)%>%
    fitBounds(~min(Longitude), ~min(Latitude), ~max(Longitude), ~max(Latitude)) %>%
    addLayersControl(
    baseGroups = c("Road Map", "Satellite", "Terrain"),
    options = layersControlOptions(collapsed = FALSE)
)%>%
    addScaleBar(position = "bottomleft") %>%
    addLayersControl(
    baseGroups = c("Road Map", "Satellite", "Terrain"),
    options = layersControlOptions(collapsed = FALSE)
)